President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet veterans and their families, as well as White House staff, for an Independence Day barbecue on the South Lawn of the White House. Jim Lo Scalzo, epa

J.P. Thornsley, 12, carries a U.S. flag in the barrel of his 20-gauge shotgun before leading about 250 gun rights advocates in an open carry demonstration during the Independence Day parade in Westcliffe, Colo. Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette via AP

From left, Chandler, Ariz.'s Long Le, 25, from Vietnam, hands an American flag to Cataleya Brown, 13 months, as her father, Marine Master Sgt. Alahondro Brown of Yuma, right, watches. Le and Brown's wife, Yuliya, from Turkmenistan, were about to become U.S. citizens during the 26th Annual Fiesta of Independence naturalization ceremony at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix. Tom Tingle, The Republic

Lydia Zaloga, 37, originally of Slovakia, is welcomed as a new U.S. citizen by history interpreter Don Francisco, right, after a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization ceremony at George Washington's Mount Vernon. Cheryl Diaz Meyer for USA TODAY

John David Dowdle holds his 23-month-old daughter, Blakely Dowdle, as she is sprayed with water by the Germantown Fire Department during the Poplar Estates Fourth of July parade in Germantown, Tenn. Yalonda M. James, The Commercial Appeal via AP

Members of the Cordova Boy Scouts troop 332 salute during the raising of the American flag at the start of the Cordova Community Center's Independence Day celebration and parade in Cordova, Tenn. William DeShazer, The Commercial Appeal via AP

U.S. soldiers serving in a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo take part in celebrations marking the 238th birthday of the United States at the U.S. Camp Bondsteel near the village of Sojeva. Armend Nimani, AFP/Getty Images

Retired Marine sergeant John Peck of Fredricksburg, Va., and Sophia Elwood, 7, the daughter of Peck's fiancee, place an American flag on one of the names inscribed at the south reflecting pool of the 9/11 Memorial in New York. An event there honored the victims and survivors of Sept. 11. Peck, who is a quadruple amputee as a result of an incident during his service in Afghanistan, was one of a group of severely injured Afghanistan and Iraq veterans who took part in the event. Tina Fineberg, AP